{flickr photo by: khaybe}
Just last week I read an author’s tweet about her lackluster review on a movie based on her book. And several weeks before that, a writer expressed her frustrating over feedback from an article she wrote.
Bad reviews are a part of life.
They can happen whether you are a writer, entrepreneur or a 9 to 5 employee. I certainly have had my fair share.
But what do you do about them? {Besides run under the covers and hide.}
Basically, you have 3 options: a) Sulk b) Quit c) Suck it up
I’d opt for the latter if I were you.
Why?
No matter what you do in life, you won’t be able to completely hide from judgment or criticism. You are human, which makes me 100% sure that you will make a mistake at one time. Several in fact.
Sometimes this will elicit anger and disappointment in the person you are working for. That’s the hard part isn’t it. Swallowing that pill of shame that we are actually imperfect. *gasp!
Why Learning from Your Mistakes is a Good Thing
I know that statement is quite elementary. But when someone has criticized your latest article or sent you the worst review ever for a project you painstakingly worked on, you may need to hear it.
Feel the Pain
It’s okay to be upset when you first receive it.
In fact, if it just happened to you, step away from the computer. Take a deep breath. Go for a walk. Meditate. Do something that feels good, that lets off steam, that will help you put your big “mistake” into perspective.
After you’ve let off some steam and are starting to feel better, take some time to figure out what happened.
Read the Signs
You know how sometimes a cigar is just a cigar? Well sometimes mistakes are just that. But there are times when your mishaps could be showing you something.
Think about why you’re making them.
Are you tired?
On days when I make the most mistakes, I usually got 5 hours of sleep the night before. It’s a reminder to me that I need to re-prioritize the things in my life. Self-care is number 1 because if I can’t take care of myself, I won’t be able to take care of business either.
Are you bored?
There have been many times when I typed a 0 instead of a 1 has a research assistant before I finally accepted that entering numbers in a spreadsheet 8 hours a day was not for me. My mistakes was an unconscious sign that I was ready to leave my job. Because I was too afraid to quit, I was sabotaging my job so that I would be fired instead. So not a good idea, by the way.
Is something on your mind?
Maybe something’s been bugging you lately. It could be about your job, your relationship or your the things in life that you’ve been neglecting. Anything that takes your mind off of what you’re doing in the moment can cause mistakes to happen. Schedule time in your day to sit and journal. Write about what concerns you are having in this moment. When you give yourself the space to express what you’re going through, your mind won’t feel like it needs to interrupt your work time to do it.
Take Action
What has this experience taught you?
The obvious answer is to do better next time. But I would also add that you should acknowledge the mistakes you made, be upfront about it, take responsibility for it and then decide what you will do with this new information.
Above all else, be kind to yourself. You made a mistake. So what?! Everyone does. If you can pick yourself up, dust yourself off and learn how to do better next time, that experience won’t look like a mistake, it will look like the opportunity that catapulted your career.
